ABOUT SOUTH CAROLINA: Hasn’t played since Dec. 5, an 80-50 victory over Appalachian State … The Dec. 9 game at Duke was postponed due to weather … Posted a 5-1 record against unranked teams … Suffered losses to Maryland, Oregon State, Drake and Baylor … Averaging 76.9 points and allowing 66.0 … Shooting 42 percent from the field and 67.9 percent from the free throw line … Outrebounding its last five opponents by +6.6 … Averaging 7.2 blocked shots to rank third nationally ... Senior Alexis Jennings has scored in double figures in four of the last five games … Indianapolis native and Heritage Christian graduate has totaled at least five assists in 38 career games and is averaging 2.1 steals to rank sixth among SEC players … Te’a Cooper ranks fifth nationally in free throw percentage (81.1) … Averaging 33.6 points in the paint and 20.9 points off turnovers … Ten different players have made at least one 3-pointer … Won the 2017 NCAA championship … Is 1-2 against Purdue, the lone win in the 2012 NCAA tournament at Mackey Arena … Dawn Staley is 255-91 in 11 seasons with the Gamecocks and 427-171 in 19 years overall.

ABOUT PURDUE: Last played Dec. 9, defeating Loyola-Chicago 65-41 … Improved to 5-0 at Mackey Arena … Posted a 5-2 mark against ranked teams the last two years, including a 1-1 record this season … Is 3-3 in its last six games … Averaging 68.9 points and allowing 60.4 … Shooting 42.3 percent from the field and 67.4 percent from the free throw line … Averaging 25.2 points in the paint and 13.2 points off turnovers … Dominique Oden, Ae’Rianna Harris and Karissa McLaughlin are averaging a combined 42.6 points … Harris has five double doubles … McLaughlin has 25 3-pointers … Freshman Kayana Traylor has 41 assists and 25 turnovers … Tamara Farquhar has five or more rebounds in seven games … Won 33 straight games when leading after three quarters … Sharon Versyp is 263-150 in 13 seasons with the Boilermakers and 380-215 in 19 years overall.

Top scorers: Oden (15.2), McLaughlin (14.5), Harris (12.9)

Top rebounders: Harrison (9.2), Farquhar (6.9), McLaughlin (3.5)

STORYLINES

• Sunday is the last chance for the Boilermakers to make a statement heading into the Big Ten season. Purdue has split its two meetings against ranked teams but also lost to St. John’s and Ohio. This year’s team needs a marquee win, not only for confidence but to enhance its postseason hopes.

“It’s a huge opportunity,” McLaughlin said. “It’s been circled on our schedule for a while. We need to play the best that we can and focus on us and what we can bring to the table and make sure we have energy and the crowd is going to be awesome.”

• This is a homecoming – or as close as it gets - for Tyasha Harris and she’s one of the best in the game. She has different personnel around her compared to the last two years, but she’ll be a factor on both ends. The junior will look to pester freshman Kayana Traylor, who gives the Boilermakers a different dimension at the point, and will need to be sharp against the pressure defense.

“She’s added so much because she can break anybody down,” Versyp said of Traylor. “Against UConn, she just matched everything. She was the highlight and that’s going to be big for us.”

• The Boilermakers spent a bulk of final exams week making tweaks defensively and adding wrinkles offensively, not only for Sunday but heading into the final stretch of non-conference games.

“We were playing a little bit individually rather than the concepts of team defense,” Versyp said.

The play on the defensive end will be important in Sunday’s game. The Gamecocks are traditionally solid and athletic and Purdue must take advantage of openings on the offensive end to find easy baskets.

“We have to do a great job of defending and keeping them in front of us and boxing out,” Versyp said. “On the offensive end, we’ve got to take those opportunities when we can score and attack them and have an inside-outside game.

"When we’ve shared the basketball inside-out, we’ve had the energy, we’ve looked for great shots and people have been shooting the shots they’ve been working on.”